Credit score: CC0 Public Area
The Maldives started implementing a smoking ban Saturday on anybody born after January 2007, changing into the one nation with a generational prohibition on tobacco, the Well being Ministry mentioned.
The transfer, initiated by President Mohamed Muizzu earlier this yr—which got here into impact on November 1—will “protect public health and promote a tobacco-free generation,” the ministry mentioned.
“Under the new provision, individuals born on or after January 1, 2007 are prohibited from purchasing, using, or being sold tobacco products within the Maldives,” it added.
“The ban applies to all forms of tobacco, and retailers are required to verify age prior to sale.”
The measure additionally applies to guests to the nation of 1,191 tiny coral islets scattered some 800 kilometers (500 miles) throughout the equator and recognized for its luxurious tourism.
The ministry mentioned it additionally maintains a complete ban on the import, sale, distribution, possession, and use of digital cigarettes and vaping merchandise, relevant to all people no matter age.
Promoting tobacco merchandise to an underage particular person carries a penalty of fifty,000 rufiyaa ($3,200), whereas utilizing vape units carries a wonderful of 5,000 rufiyaa ($320).
The same generational ban proposed in Britain remains to be going by way of the legislative course of, whereas New Zealand—the primary nation to enact such a legislation in opposition to smoking—repealed it in November 2023, lower than a yr after it was launched.
© 2025 AFP
Quotation:
Maldives begins ‘generational ban’ on smoking (2025, November 1)
retrieved 1 November 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-11-maldives-generational.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any truthful dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for data functions solely.
